Indianapolis Colts linebacker Robert Mathis enjoyed the best season of his career. A few may see Mathis at face value being shorter and older then his peers but in 2014 his game was “game wrecking”.
At 6-feet even, going against 300 pound tackles doesn’t effect this six-time Pro Bowl player. Mathis just turned 33 in February and will be playing in the second season of a four-year, $36 million contract. With 12 sacks over the next two seasons, he will join the NFL’s top 10. (Four active players are ahead of him: Minnesota’s Jared Allen (age 30 and No. 12 with 128), Chicago’s Julius Peppers (32, 17th, 119) and Dallas DeMarcus Ware (30, 18th, 117).
Hard to believe Mathis was the 138th player taken in the fifth round of the 2003 draft. From the looks of the Robert’s highlight video below, the former Colts president Bill Polian’s choice here was solid.
This rushing linebacker’s best football season of his life had a few set backs including his mother, Emma Lou (69) was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus. Despite missing the Colts’ eight home games, she did not miss Week 15 when her son broke a pair of team records against the Texans. Mathis recorded the 108th sack of his career in the third quarter of the game against Houston. This eclipsed the previous record of 107 sacks, held by former defensive end Dwight Freeney (now recently resigned with the San Diego Chargers). Mathis was unstoppable in 2013, staking his claim on defensive player of the year honors in his second season since moving from being an in-line defensive end to a linebacker. The sack also pushed Mathis to 16.5 on the season, besting the previous single-season record also set by Freeney back in 2004.
PPI’s Theresa Villano caught up with Mathis and his wife on NFL Honors Award Show red carpet to talk about his sacking season and fashion sense.
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Trish Scott Contributed to this story
